Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around

Embroidery stitched directly through a vinyl record sleeve.

12x12x2 inches, framed in acrylic.

     This is my favorite Johnny Cash album from his American recordings that was released towards the end of his career. The American recordings produced by Rick Rubin are sparse and intimate recordings that spanned from the years 1994 to the time of his death in 2003. There were about 7 different albums released in this series and they are composed of a mix of covers and original music. To hear Johnny Cash sing Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails songs is both amazing and chilling at the same time. This album features the bold CASH lettering across the top with a faded photograph of Johnny Cash looking down in the bottom right corner. I wanted to do something completely different with this piece, and since he is to me, the most Americana singer of all time I wanted to use that as the focal point for this piece.  I started by embroidering an Americana quilt in the background using over a dozen pieces of fabric. I then used white quilting cotton to add the lettering to the top. The fabric creates a softness to the background and the lettering truly stands out. His portrait was created with  5 layers of wool thread stitched in an abstract style, so far this is the only album I created with a quilted background.